Abi Coop
Melissa Richard
Kristen Ryan
With the New Year swiftly approaching now is a great time to hunker down with your thoughts (I also love grabbing a notebook and my favorite pen to help with this so called plan hatchery) to cultivate my plan for 2023! An EDITING plan that is! Want to know how I maintain my branding, photography voice, tones & colors, photographic signature, and extra magical pizzazz in my imagery?!?! It all starts with a PLAN + a LIST! So, go ahead, grab that notebook and favorite pen while I (re)heat my coffee.
It’s no secret one of my favorite colors is Aqua/Teal (hence the name Hello Aqua) and I try to include this color in almost all of my images as a sort of Photographic/Visual Signature.
Photographic Visual Signature: An identifying mark/mood/color/tone/subject within the frame that tells the viewer who the artist is before the byline.
Let’s play a fun game – I always like the hands-on approach when it comes to learning and growing. First, take a look at my portfolio: @hello_meganboggs. Look at the last 9 images on the Gram and tell me if you can identify my Photographic Signatures (I’ll give you a hint…I have at least FIVE!)
Megs Photographic Signatures:
Did you get them all RIGHT?!?! Awesome! I knew you could do it! Okay…let’s play ONE MORE TIME, but this time, you’re going to look at your portfolio and pick two visual signatures you’d like to showcase in your work that makes you recognizable as an Artist.
What’s YOUR photo vibe? What do your photos SAY about you? What story are they telling? Does your editing style help narrate that tale? Do you fit into a creative square or are you happy creating outside the lines? Does your visual story have many chapters and characters, but you’re having a hard time finding your photographic voice to help showcase what you love to create?
If you’re struggling to answer some of these questions then let’s try to narrow it down so you can continue creating freely, but find a way to tell your story in the most transparent way.
Finding a niche can be challenging and often times it can feel stifling to label yourself as “X”. What if I don’t like this style a year from now? What if I like to take photos of still life and landscape as well as my wild kids and clients. How can I make it ALL work? I’ll tell you what…YOU CAN make it ALL work. You just have to be strategic and CREATIVE!
Your work will continue to change throughout the years as an Artist. Just like life, the seasons are always changing and we are constantly pausing to stop, learn, and grow in our work. This is where you get INTENTIONAL. Take ALL the photos you want of all the genres. Just showcase them in a way that screams YOU! I love editing with color, but I am very strategic in how I pop my color within my scene. I want that color to SAY something. To lead my viewer to the main subject of the story. To exude emotion and elicit a response, whether internally or externally. To explode with good vibes and happy times – MY way.
It helps to stick to like tones and colors in your editing. Your editing tells the world how you see its beauty – with your own rose-colored glasses. You don’t have to fit into a box, you just need to be consistent in your story. You can take photos of all the pretty flowers, children playing and twirling, the most magical sunrises, and/or the most delicious bread you have ever made. You CAN have it ALL – YOUR WAY!
What helps me stay consistent in my colors and film-like tones is the Hello Storyteller Preset Collection. Using a preset is a GREAT editing starting point and a sure fire way to keep your story flowing all the way through your portfolio, without feeling like you’re losing your visual voice and influence. I follow the same editing workflow throughout my editing session, which usually leads me to new creative ideas or visions. Having a standard editing flow ensures I don’t forget a step, keeps my work consistent, and allows room to get creative with my fun Lightroom Brushes, painting on new shiny accents in an image to solidify my final piece.
But Megs, what if I like moody tones AND light and airy. What do I do? How can I stay consistent? Hey, no problem. Just alternate low light images with brighter airy ones in your portfolio so you have a nice…balance.
CTA: Find your VIBE! In your notebook, write down three words (noun, verb, adjective…whatever) you want your viewer to know upon first laying eyes on your story.
“The thing about portraits is, you need to show people the way they want to be seen. And I prefer to show people as I see them.” Little Fires Everywhere
Over the years, portraits have vastly become one of my favorites to capture. I love an up close, full frame image – the intimate connection with your subject – a sneak peek into their heart. A glimpse into their true self. I recently heard the aforementioned quote and it struck a nerve. It’s true that, as a subject, I would love to be captured as I see my best self. But the truth is, that vision is biased. The true art of the subject is in the way the artist can capture a subject’s pure beauty – and within the chaos of our own skewed version of ourselves, captured is the beautiful essence of our true soul by another.
As an adult and a Mom, I seem to always be in search of balance. Can you relate? Constantly being pulled strongly in one direction or the polar. So it seems fitting that I would naturally try to balance the ever so wavering scale of beauty in my self. Beauty in the eye of the Beholder versus self love and acceptance of my beautiful self – in all it’s balanced AND unbalanced glory.
Keeping these two perspectives in mind, I have designed a Lightroom Beauty Brush Kit that will make every subject swoon as they see their true selfie. I like to start a Portrait Edit with Skin: Baby Smooth to even out the skin tone and smooth the complexion. You can always add the Texturizer brush to add some grain to the complexion to make it look more natural. Next I add Skin Photo Glow to add some warmth and extra glow to the skin. Depending on the tinting needs I can adjust red, yellow, or green skin/casting issues with the Skin Fix Brushes.
Now let’s get down to the details. I love zooming in and pretending that I am talking to my subject; putting on their make-up and making them feel beautiful inside and out. I start by adding Contour – Bronzer + Shimmer to the bone structure/face. I emphasize the lashes and eyebrows with Mascara 2.0 and pronounce the irises with Eye Pop. I add Pinky Pie to the cheeks and lips and splash on Contexture to add dimension and texture to the hair and clothing. I then finish with Luminance giving the subject one last touch of glowy perfection and finalizing with Sharpen Extra Extra in just the right places to make my subjects features pop: eyes, lashes, hair, and clothing. By the end of my editing session, both my subject and the final image are showcased in their truest beauty in the eye of an artist – who just wants to show them how truly beautiful they are.
CTA: Bust out that notebook again. Imagine and create a fun and inspiring portrait concept. Then execute, shoot, and edit your creative portrait with the portrait tips above! Don’t have the Hello Storyteller Brushes yet? No problem, I have created a quick & easy Storyteller Beauty Brush Kit that will make you a master portrait editor in NO TIME!! Just click HERE!!!
I have been obsessed with Fashion since I was a kid. I remember sneaking off to the Mall with my friends in the 90’s; perusing and sifting through the racks at Nordstrom and Pacific Sunwear and Forever 21 for the best outfit; spending all of my money down to the very last penny (the tax always got me!) Memories of walking down the catwalk as a tot in the local fashion show, styling my outfits the night before school, and challenging myself to never wear the same top in college until I wore EVERYTHING first (that was a fun one!) So it was inevitable that fashion would be stitched and altered into my photography as well.
Style: When styling and setting a scene I try to pull clothing colors that are complimentary to one another. For instance Red & Green, Teal & Orange, or Yellow & Purple. As you can see I work with a rainbow palette often in my clothing, so I will try to correlate the rainbow with one specific color within that palette to pop. Such as the yellow flowers pairing with the rainbow heart dress that also includes tiny yellow hearts. I also try to incorporate my HMB (Hello Megan Boggs) branding colors within my work when I can (i.e. the Pink dress with the rainbow bonnet with pops of pink and teal and the yellowish feather reed grass layering the frame.)
Scene: When setting up a stylized scene, such as the Good Vibes Only Hammock Shot and the Holiday Flatlay, I love to keep it busy – call it “stylized chaos”! I love adding lots of different textures, layers, and props; giving the scene dimension and interest laid in a strategic sporadic heap. I also like to add those visual signatures that we talked about above; rainbows, aqua, happy vibes, California spirit (palm trees, flamingos, pineapples, etc.) and consistently reshoot & refresh photo series/content that continuously tell my story throughout the years.
Fashion: It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with twirly dresses. They are my number one go to, but I am definitely trying to step out of my fashion comfort zone and photograph pieces that aren’t so obviously and easily captured with movement. To push myself, I am finding new creative ways to capture fashion by using unique posing and adding lots of layers and texture within the frame. I like to ensure that each piece is adding details to my story in the frame AND the overall story of my portfolio. For environmental portraiture I try to find a minimalistic background and some dreamy dramatic light in order for my subject to pop from the scene.
Favorite Shops:
Editing: When editing fashion I love popping a pronounced color within the frame. Usually I will add saturation or the Color Pop brush to the main color or rainbow within my scene, leaving the rest of the frame in a film-like vintage trance. My goal is for the color to shine through and add a punch of happy and emotion to the image. To evoke some type of response from my viewer – a rainbow usually brings a smile and good feelings, which is what I love to share with others.
CTA: Put together your own mini stylized session. Incorporate your visual storytelling signatures. If you feel inspired, I’d love for you to try a chaotic stylized scene and a minimalistic scene with your subject popping out of the frame. You know I’m going to want to see these, so please feel free to share your images with me @hello_meganboggs so I can see your stylized editing AWESOMENESS <3
I’m not going to lie, I love being a little extra extra with the Wow-Factor! I love seeing how far I can take an image straight out of camera and turn it into something magical. One thing that has helped add interest to my imagery is adding layers, textures, light, and bokeh. The holiday season is my favorite time of year because I can add all the bokeh overlays (within reason, of course). I love adding bokeh layers as a way to break up the monotony of a frame. It adds a little bit of interest and intrigue to what would otherwise be a straight inside-the-box shot with no frill, luster, or pizzazz. Adding overlays in Photoshop is great, but my word phrase this year is KISS: Keep it Simple Silly. So most often once I finish my edit on my desktop, I then pull my image onto my phone and into my favorite mobile editing app, LightLeap. One of my favorite elements to add is the extra bokeh or lens flares. You can paint the bokeh effect on and off anywhere within the frame, change the hue, and raise and lower the opacity just right. I also love adding a light burst to my scene for some extra oomph and golden goodness: shining it through windows, bouncing it off reflections and mirrors, and peeking it through trees. One of my other favorite LightLeap tools is the Sky overlays! They are legitimately one of my favorite overlays to use to add dimension to my scene (California skies can be so boring!) and it’s so much easier than Photoshop!!
CTA: Download LightLeap App and try using one of the elements, overlays, or skies to add dimension to your scene. Channel your inner Megs and be a little EXTRA EXTRA today 🙂
Thanks so much for hanging out with me and I hope you gained some new knowledge and editing insight!! Don’t forget to grab you Beauty Brush Kit or the full Hello Storyteller Preset Collection HERE
xoxo,
Megs
Instagram @hello_meganboggs